The San Diego Union-Tribune has this fairly lengthy article about the difficulties independent candidates face in California. The article does not mention that outside California, 25 independent and minor party candidates were elected to state legislatures earlier this month. The article also does not mention the problem that independent candidates in California face, relative to ballot labels. Under current California law, independent candidates for Congress and partisan state office may not have “independent” printed on the ballot next to their names. Instead they are stuck with the unappealing label “no party preference.”